Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP) supports the efficient formation and adaption of active tree topologies in a wired local area network (LAN) where multiple connections between nodes exist. Essentially, the protocol operates on a network that is a dynamic mesh of physical links to reliably form a structured tree of active forwarding links.
Traditionally, in wireless transport networks, links are planned before they are deployed. This is because topologies such as these are known ahead of time and are relatively stable, or at least changes can be controlled. An exception to this is when equipment failure occurs or a radio link become unviable (e.g., a path is blocked). To manage scenarios like these, resilience is typically designed into the topology using, for example, rings or redundant paths, and fail-over protocols are used to utilize a known (pre-planned) alternate path. Some of the protocols for Ethernet networks using wireless point-to-point links to connect bridges include Provider Backbone Bridge Traffic Engineering (PBB-TE), RSTP, and G.8032.
A different protocol is needed for wireless point-to-multipoint networks supporting dynamic topologies with relaying, multi-hop or wireless bridging. Topologies in these networks are dynamic, and nodes may be rapidly lost or discovered, making conventional network topology management inefficient.
The need exists for a system that overcomes the above problems, as well as one that provides additional benefits. Overall, the examples herein of some prior or related systems and their associated limitations are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of existing or prior systems will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon reading the following Detailed Description.